Rishi Sunak gives clear sign Manchester leg of HS2 is for the chop and insists he’s ready to face backlash

RISHI Sunak says he’s ready to take massive criticism in the clearest signal yet that HS2 is for the chop.

He told The Sun: “I’ve got under the bonnet. I’ve seen what works, what doesn’t work and what I want to do differently. That’s the phase we’re in.”

The PM brushed away dire warnings not to scale back the massively over budget high speed rail project from his predecessors and big business.

And in a clear hint the Manchester leg of the line will be canned, he said it was time to invest more in drivers and buses in the North.

He said: “If do this job, you’re got to be fine with criticism and I get plenty of it right.

“But I’m doing what I think is right for the long term of the country.

“It’s as simple as that. That’s my guiding star.”

Tackled directly on the backlash he has received this week over threatening HS2, he hit back: “When I’ve been out and about most people are saying ‘good on you on net zero’.”

And he said it was time to focus more on roads than trains.

“Like there’s so much focus on this one thing, you forget that actually, how do most people get around?

“They use their cars. We should be focusing also on making sure that our roads are well maintained and that we’re filling potholes.”

He added: “What’s the most popular form of public transportation?

“Buses, so we’re making sure that we’re supporting our bus services around the country, particularly in rural areas.

And he said the North needed more than HS2, saying it “what the North needs is connecting up all the towns and cities across the North –  east to west – that’s the thing that the North wants and that’s what we’re doing.

“But we’ve got to invest in all these forms of transportation. That’s how you really level up but also just do the things that matter to people and actually will change our country.”